There will be no negotiations, no gray areas. Unless Yao Ming’s surgeon changes his mind and the plan, on all matters involving Yao’s playing time this season, the Rockets will not need to hold further meetings or reach compromises.

Most of all, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pledged that he and coach Rick Adelman will not come to blows over a star center’s playing time, something Bulls vice president John Paxson and former coach Vinny Del Negro did when limiting Joakim Noah’s minutes last season as the Rockets will Yao’s this season.

Yao will play no more than 24 minutes per game, Rockets vice president and athletic trainer Keith Jones said. There will be no exceptions. If Yao has played his 24 minutes and the Rockets have the ball and eight seconds on the clock to make up a one-point deficit, Yao will not play those eight seconds.

Yao’s playing time will not average 24 minutes; it will end there. If he plays 22 minutes in one game, he will not play 26 the next. For that matter, if he plays two minutes one game, he will not play 26 the next. When Yao reaches his 24 minutes, he will be through for that game.

Policy could be tweaked

When Yao plays one night, he will skip much of the practice the next day, with the Rockets so determined to limit the demands on Yao that Jones and associate athletic trainer Jason Biles have already outlined Yao’s workout schedule from the start of camp Sept. 25 through the last game of the regular season.

“Twenty-four is his number all year,” Jones said. “Playoffs come, things could change. We’re trying to get him through April.

“We’re trying to give him the best chance to play the whole season by limiting stress. Even practices, if we play on Monday and play again on Wednesday, can he practice on Tuesday? No. He’ll practice, but he won’t scrimmage.”

Yao also is likely to be held out of the second half of back-to-backs, though that might not be the policy for the entire season. The team is also uncertain if Yao can play extra in the second half of a game if he was limited to only a few minutes in the first half.

Jones is certain, however, that Yao’s expected lobbying efforts will not change the plan.

“Yao is his own worst enemy,” Jones said. “He feels good and wants to go. We will be fighting him every day. I know we will. He’s going to feel good. He??s going to want to do more. He’s going to question us. He’s going to question the doctor. That’s Yao. He’s a competitor.

“We’re just trying to reduce the stress. With Yao, trying to come up with a number was kind of Dr. (Tom) Clanton’s thing to try to get him under 25 minutes. There is no bank. If he played 18 tonight, he doesn’t play 30 tomorrow.”

Yao has said he is committed to the plan after missing all or part of the past five seasons to bone-related injuries. Yao is, however, on pace to start training camp on time and is expected to play in the preseason and in the Oct. 26 season-opener in Los Angeles.

“We’re going to take what we think is a cautious approach to try to make sure he is healthy throughout the playoffs,” Morey said. “Does anyone know for sure what that best approach is? No. The question then becomes who is best to make an educated case, so given that criteria, you go with our medical staff.

“We have evidence that when he played 35 to 40 minutes he averaged two years ago there was a buildup of stress on his foot that led to it being injured in the playoffs. On some level, we have at least one indication 35 to 40 minutes might be too much. That would lead you to choose to look at having a limit.”

Veterans may follow suit

Yao might not be the only Rockets player with a time limit. While cutting Yao’s minutes is based on the hope it would prevent another stress injury, the Rockets believe it also keeps him fresher for the playoffs, a strategy that might be used with other veterans.

“With some of our other veterans, if it’s possible to maintain the pace we need to make playoffs or get homecourt in the West and reduce the wear and tear on them so that they’re fresher in the playoffs, we’ll look at that,” Morey said. “Unlike Yao Ming, where we know we’re going to limit him, I don’t know that anything is decided. But with all our veterans, given than they are so critical, and given that we feel we have maybe as good a depth as any team in the league, we may try to utilize that this year.”

With Yao, however, Morey said there will be no uncertainty and no chance of the contentiousness that Noah’s playing time became in Chicago last season, and not only because Morey would want no part of Adelman if it came to that.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about winning” Morey said. “It’s about winning in the playoffs. We’re choosing to limit Yao Ming and Yao Ming is in agreement that this is the best plan. We want him when it counts the most.”